Sen. David Perdue on Friday conceded the Georgia runoff election to Jon Ossoff, accepting a defeat that gave Democrats control of the Senate and a complete hold on power in Washington.
“Although we won the general election, we came up just short of Georgia’s 50% rule, and now I want to congratulate the Democratic Party and my opponent for this runoff win,” Mr. Perdue said in a statement.
Mr. Perdue said that he and his wife, Bonnie, were “deeply grateful” for the millions of Georgians who supported him during his one term in the Senate and during the reelection campaign.
“Serving our home state has been the honor of a lifetime,” he said.
President-elect Joseph B. Biden now takes office with his Democrats running the House and the Senate, the first time Democrats have had a monopoly on Washington political power since 2012.
Mr. Ossoff, a documentary filmmaker and investigative journalist, narrowly topped Perdue in the Jan. 5 runoff. He won with a 1% margin, 50.5% to 49.5%, or just over 44,900 votes.
Mr. Ossoff’s victory, coupled with the runoff win of Rev. Raphael Warnock over Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler, secured the Democrats a majority in the upper chamber.
The two Georgia seats result in a 50-50 part split in the Senate with Vice-President Elect Kamala D. Harris casting the tie-breaking vote and giving Democrats majority control.
• S.A. Miller can be reached at smiller@washingtontimes.com.
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